Human tissue can be damaged in numerous ways. For example, the skin can be burned by the sun or the application of acids such as alpha-hydroxy acid (AHA). Muscle tissue can suffer damage from a lack of oxygen or from traumatic injury. In either case, the body produces a certain healing response. It has been proposed that the speed of healing of tissue damage is improved with the application of a cell migration agent. Cell migration agents generally promote the migration of fibroblast cells from the periphery of the wounded tissue to a location inside the wounded area. Fibroblast cells are mesenchyme cells which give rise to connective tissue. For purposes of this discussion, a wound includes any damage to tissue from any source. During the normal healing process, the tissue, such as skin, heals inward from the peripheral edge of the wound. Improved healing speed has been observed when fibroblast cells migrate to the middle of the wound and heal outward to meet the inward progression from the periphery.
It has been proposed that the plant hormones or growth factors might also play an important role in the healing of wounded animal tissue. Certain compounds appear to improve the growth of plant cells including gibberellins, indolacetic acid and kinetin. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,655 to Jones et al. discloses a plant growth enhancing composition comprising as an active ingredient a synergistic mixture of (a) gibberellins, (b) the heteroauxin indole-3-acetic acid and the cytokinin 6-(4-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-trans-betenylamino) purine. These plant growth enhancing agents have very low molecular weights typically between 175 and 346. There has been no correlation between the use of plant growth hormones and wound healing in human cell studies.
A need exists for a plant derived cell migration agent that can be used to improve the healing of animal tissue. Such a cell migration agent should be useful for human application with particular benefits in healing skin. Skin damage can include aging from sun or chemical exposure. Therefore, a suitable cell migration agent should be useful in minimizing or healing skin damage associated with aging and sun or chemical exposure.